That's Interesting…

We woke up at six. Which stank because we got only three hours of sleep, but six was sleeping in considering our trail schedule. After getting breakfast we had errands to run. BTW the cheapest drink here is papaya or mango or pineapple juice. Cheaper than sprite or fanta. It is hilarious. They also serve avocado with everything. And asparagus soup is the cheapest soup on any menu. Needless to say I live off of papaya juice, avocado and asparagus soup. My body thinks I suddenly got rich and went to culinary heaven. I must say that Peruvian food is truly incredible. Everything we have eaten has been beyond delicious. And you all know that my food standards are high. Everything is fresh.

We first went to the post office and sent a ton of postcards. Postage is super expensive. Two bucks a postcard. David was having a heart attack as I happily sent 12 postcards. Then we had to go to an Internet cafe so that David could do some computer magic. He said he needed to transfer pictures but I know he was going through a withdrawal and had to touch a keyboard to get to his electronic nirvana. After 1.5 hours I was able to lure him away. We then went shopping for souvenirs and had lunch. David’s ability to speak Spanish has been priceless. But when it comes to bargaining he leaves me alone with my five Spanish words and two dance moves while he is laughing his head off and records my performance for posterity.

After lunch we went to take a nap and resolve a huge problem. We brought three credit cards with us: Amex, MasterCard, and Visa – all of which put holds on our cards. So we could not access any money. That whole affair was a nightmare. Thanks to Skype we were able to call for 2 cents a minute and battle it all out. Amex was wonderful and gave us a temporary pin number that allowed us to withdraw up to 500 dollars but only one time- of course we later learned that you cannot withdraw more than 200 dollars from Peruvian ATM. Visa/wells Fargo were useless and I threw a major fit. I have always hated Wells Fargo and now am determined to burn the card the moment I get home. MasterCard/Capital One were incompetent and put three different holds on the card. David was going through the roof and I hope they don’t use any of his phone calls for training purposes.

We also had to get our laundry done. All our clothes were wet and smelled horrid. We were going to do the laundry ourselves at a laundromat but apparently in Peru there is only the kind of laundry services where you drop off your clothes and pray real hard that most of them will come back. So we prayed hard. Because the only clothes we had we were wearing- David wore his swimming trunks and I my tiny shorts and garments inside out. We were quite the fashionistas. Especially considering it was cold, everyone else was in swaters.

We then visited convent of Santo Domingo which is built on top of the Incas main temple of the sun, the most important temple in the whole Inca empire that was covered in thousands of tons of gold. The Spaniards took the gold, tore down the temple but used the foundations but built the convent. Fifteen years ago an earthquake revealed the Inca walls because the Spanish walls and plaster tumbled while the Inca walls held strong. David hates the Spanish and announces it to me At least twice an hour. It is really horrific what the Spanish perpetrated on the local culture. We hired a guide to walk us through the convent. He was an awesome character and worth every penny. The Incas were masters of astronomy and he explained a ton of things to us about their calendar and such. Too much to write. Then we picked up our laundry. All our clothes came back. BTW laundry is charged by weight. A dollar per kilo about. Anyway we were ecstatic.

Hello! Soon, this space will be replete with an account of our Machu Picchu adventures! For now, we’ll have to make do with a picture of Machu Picchu and a picture of my new friend Trevors’ finger.

Day 4
We got up at 3:30 to allow the porters to pack up and catch the train at 5. We also wanted to be among the first ones to the checkpoint which opens at 5:30. There were about 50 people in front of us. Once we got our permits checked we started walking. It was still dark so we had to wear headlamps to see the trail. It was super adventurous. The pace was really fast and we all walked in a line. It was the first and only time we walked in a herd of tourists.

After an hour and conquering “the gringo killer” which is about 50 completely vertical steps that you have crawl up on all fours we reached the sun gate. That was the first time we laid our eyes on Machu Picchu. It was an incredible moment and one that I will always remember. It was so huge and beautiful and we had worked so hard to see it. The sky was blue not a single cloud and we watched the sun slowly kiss the terraces. Wow. From the Sun Gate, it was still about another 45 minutes before we reached Machu Picchu.

We left our backpacks at the storage since big bags are not allowed and started our 2 hour tour with Mauro. It was so amazing to be walking around the premises admiring the stonework, the Inca understanding of nature, the beautiful jungle covered mountains surrounding us, and also realizing that one of our dreams had just come true. I really cannot describe how awesome it was. After a quick snack we had free time to explore and take more pictures. We went to see the Inca bridge, which you must google, because it is the scariest thing I have ever seen. It is a couple of logs on a completely vertical cliff. It is obviously closed because unless you are an Inca or a monkey you are guaranteed to die. I was having heart attacks just looking at it.

At 1:30 we hopped on a bus to take us to Aguas Calientes, a little tourist town in the valley, to meet Mauro. The 30 minute bus ride was worse than all of Inca trail. We rode about an inch from the cliff edge and had to back up several times to allow the buses coming up the mountain to pass. I was happy to get off the bus and walk on solid ground again. It turned out that our train was leaving four hours later than we expected so we decided to go the local hot springs to kill time. We left our bags in a local restaurant along with the stuff the porters had carried and left here for us. The springs were exactly what we and our bodies needed. It was heaven.

After the rejuvenating bath in the hot springs and the pee of many foreigners and locals, we got a beautiful grilled alpaca steak and headed for the train station. There is seriously no better meat than alpaca; so tender and so flavorful. The train took us back to km 82 where we started the trail. The train used to go all the way to Cusco but because of a landslide it has not gone to Cusco since January. The train was comfortable and clean and we had assigned seats. It did rock from left to right quite a bit but we were too tired to be concerned. Unfortunately it was too dark to see the valleys outside.

After 1.5 hours we got to km 82 where we boarded minibuses that took us to Cusco. Again, another scary bus experience as we happily left the road and rode on the train tracks instead. We both tried to sleep. Denial is bliss. There is only one thing worse than riding on a bus on train tracks and that is riding on a bus on a Peruvian road that is either plain dirt, plain rocks, or asphalt with foot tall speed bumps every 10 yards. After 3 hours when we reached Cusco I felt like I was thrown into a blender that was thrown into a washing machine. Horrid. We arrived in Cusco at midnight. Someone from the Trail agency was supposed to meet us but nobody was there due to either a miscommunication or our early/late arrival, So we took a taxi. No seat belts of course, that would be too boring. The car looked like we might have to push it to our hotel (like some modern version of a pioneer handcart) but by a miracle it made it. When all was said and done we crashed at 3 am, totally exhausted.

Day 3

Day 3 was by far my favorite. It was one of the most incredible days of my life.

It rained at night. It was really cool listening to the rain falling on the tent roof. Very poetic given the setting. When we got up there was fog everywhere but no rain. It even looked like it was going to clear fast. But as we started our uphill climb to the second pass the fog came back in and I started to rain. I don’t know why but I was full of energy and really booked it up to the pass. Again David was amazing doing this with a full backpack and managing to take thousands of pictures and still keeping up.

We usually walked at our own pace during the uphill parts but were always together during the downhill. After the second pass the trail went through the high jungle. Incredible. Rich vegetation forming a canopy over the trail that for the first the first time was gradual. We could just walk and enjoy the beauty. It is an indescribable feeling walking through the jungle in the middle of nowhere usually not seeing anyone because we were spread out. The birds were loud though. Since this is what is called the high jungle we saw no monkeys or anything like that.

We arrived to our lunch spot totally soaked, but luckily our rain jackets and waterproof shoes held up. Our pants were completely wet, but luckily we were not cold because the air was warm.  (Sorry again for complete lack of any writing style; I have not really slept properly in a week.) Our jackets, shoes and socks that cost us more than I want to admit were really worth every penny. The Canadian couple did not have anything waterproof and they were in misery. David and I took off our pants and enjoyed lunch covered with our jackets.

The moment we got done with lunch it stopped raining and we happily continued to the third pass. Because of the fog we could not see much of the cliffs or valleys around us but still the jungle was more than enough. David decided to curse all stairs and ran part of the trail like a porter. This was particularly insane consedering that the rain made the stone stairs super slippery. I was just staring at him in awe. I am so proud of my honey. He really outdid himself on this trip taking care of us and carrying stuff. The third camp was a big campground with lukewarm showers that we happily took advantage of. We were covered in a sticky mix of sweat, bug repellent, and sun screen. We smelled really really bad. Really really bad. By the way on day one and two there are nice ladies along the trail selling water, Gatorade and snickers and such. Which is super nice. The trail passes through their villages, which is convenient for both them and us.

More later.

Day 2
We got up bright and early. At five the porters knocked on our tent with hot tea. But we were already kinda awake due to the devil rooster that got up at four.

The hard part about day 2 and 3 is that you start hiking straight uphill. No warm up whatsoever. After breakfast we started off. It was cold and we all wore sweaters and coats but off they went just five minutes into the day’s hike. We hiked straight up for three hours. It was brutal. Much steeper than even the steepest part of the trail to the Y in Provo. Worst of all as bad as steep trail it is the stairs that are without mercy. It was hard. The weather was great though: nice and warm. Cloudless sky. Not too hot.

A big part of the trail was under thick vegetation. We made it to the lunch spot. Yay! It suddenly got really cold because we stopped hiking and the spot was in an open area.

After lunch it was two more hours strait up to dead woman’s pass. The stairs were deadly. The last fifteen minutes were pure hell. We had to make mini-goals. Get to that bush, then stop and rest. And over and over. Never more than fifteen yards. It was exhausting but so incredible. Pushing yourself every single step. It really was a spiritual beautiful experience. I will never forget it. Neither of us ever felt any altitude sickness, but I am not sure I would do much better at sea level. In those five hours we made a altitude change of 1200 meters. It really was straight up. But I would do it again in a heartbeat.

We rested for ten minutes, and then started straight down the steps to the next valley. For some it is harder to go down the stairs than up. For David carrying the big backpack it was a death march. Luckily we did not have to hurry so we took our time reaching the camp. It was really sunny and the scenery was beyond words. It was heaven. Neither of us likes hiking with a walking stick but for such extreme downhill hiking on stairs it was our best friend. We brought collapsible walking sticks so we made hem long for downhill and short for uphill. It really turned up to be a priceless possession.

The view from our tent at the campsite was of a jungle covered valley. Again, there are no words.

The trail.
We were picked up at six thirty by our guide Mauro and a minibus. We drove around Cusco a little, picking up other people starting the trek that day. In our group there was our guide Mauro, us, a Canadian couple, and a mother and a daughter from California. We rode for about two hours through the countryside, seeing tons of tiny potato fields and mud huts. We stopped in the tiny village of Oyallantaytambo for final supplies and thirty minutes later we were at Km 82 – the start of the trail, where the porters were already waiting for us. We gave them our bag of stuff to carry. We paid for half a porter – 16 pounds. Does not sound like much but as we learned for ourselves every ounce counts on the trail. They mainly carried our sleeping bag and some clothes. David carried most of our stuff in my big camping backpack: about 28+ pounds. I carried water, sleeping mat, snacks, and such: maybe 10 pounds. We set off around 11. Above us was the Veronica glacier peak. It was beautiful. We walked through the valley along the Urubamba river. We also got an Inca trail stamp in our passports. The national park workers had just discovered some aqueducts that morning on the cliff face so they took us to look. The local TV station was there and both David and I were interviewed. The first was was a pretty easy gradual hike. The weather was perfect – not too hot, not too cold. We stopped by some ruins for a lecture. Our guide was really knowledgeable and his English was quite good. We reached our camp around 5. On the way we had lunch of course. The way the trail works is that the porters run in front and set everything up and they stay behind cleaning up and putting everything away and then they overtake us. They are incredible people. It is so humbling to watch them. Most of them are Andean farmers trying to earn extra money to support their families. They are poorly dressed; usually in torn sweat pants and a t-shirt. Most of them don’t have real shoes but only sandals made out of old car tires. They carry huge bags of stuff often as big as them: at least 60 pounds, No matter what the regulation says.

The food they cooked was AMAZING. Lunch and dinner both came with soup and huge main course with several dishes. I don’t know how they managed to cook so gourmet on a tiny gas burner. We always had tea time before dinner and after lunch and dinner. Coca tea is awesome. Helps with altitude and is a good kick in the butt. We always ate in a large tent that the porters set up. The tent was actually large enough to stand up in. It was divided in half: half kitchen, half dining room. We are at a little aluminum table with a beautiful Peruvian woven table cloth. We always had napkins. We sat on little stools. It was great service. The tents we slept in were also spacious.

At the first camp site the night was incredibly cold and we were woken up at four by a devil rooster. On the trail the wake up call is early – 5. The only exception is the last day when it will be at 3:30.

Today just happens to be the festival of Corpus Cristi in Cusco. The festival was insane. The main square was packed and all the surrounding streets too. It was pretty much impossible to move anywhere. David was hilarious- he had a camera in one hand and a video camera with a tripod in the other. I just wished we had a third camera to take a picture of him. The main square is stunning colonial architecture. I know the Conquistadors killed millions but they knew how to build. Everyone is pretty much at least a head shorter than us so we stick out quite a bit. There are also a lot of dirty random dogs roaming everywhere. Of course everyone is trying to sell something to you or beg.

It was nice weather today. Well, hot really. But the moment a cloud came it got cold fast (at night I was really cold). For lunch we had a quarter of a guinea pig and alpaca steak. Guinea pig was sweet, chewy, and awful, but alpaka steak was incredible. We ate in a restaurant, but the streets are filled with vendors selling cooked meat sitting in the scorching sun. Very scary. They sell whole guinea pigs with their front teeth sticking out.

We bought our Peru warm hats and I also bought two bracelets. I can tell I have a major shopping spree in me when we get back from the trail.

Altitude has not been a problem so far and we spent most of the day walking around the city in the sun. The hotel staff keeps on coming into our room when we go out, which is worrisome. At least now we have towels, though! They also left the hotel brochure in our room.

We had our orientation meeting for the Inca trail this evening where we met our guide and fellow travellers. There will be six of us, six porters, and one guide. We are packing right now and then sleep sleep sleep. We are leaving at six thirty in the morning.

Ps sorry about my poor writing style but I have to type using the iphone and that is no fun, so I try to be concise.

We arrived in Lima at midnight; 2 hours late because of a delay in Houston. The flight went well. We watched a movie, ate a delicious dinner, and then slept for the rest of the flight. Total flying time from Houston to Lima was six and a half hours. At baggage claim, it took over an hour for the luggage to be unloaded. We were very nervous that it had been lost in Houston. Ironically, our luggage was the very last to be unloaded, but we were relieved. Both bags arrived. We immediately checked in for our next flight to cusco and went through security to find a place to sleep. Lima airport is small, but clean. The seats in the passenger waiting area are in sets of three, with no armrests in between the seats, so we were quite comfortable. At the moment, we are waiting for our Cusco flight, which leaves in about an hour. Btw, Peru is on Eastern Time.